Ballarat Vicar-general Justin Driscoll has confirmed new ribbons on the St Patrick’s Cathedral fence will not be removed in the foreseeable future.
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Parishioners removed hundreds of ribbons on Sunday as part of the unveiling of a memorial garden on the corner of Lyons and Sturt streets, drawing a divided response.
Fresh ribbons were attached to the fence just hours after the ceremony which took place two days after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse handed down its findings.
Sexual abuse survivor Phil Nagle told The Courier the ribbons would likely keep returning “if there’s no proper consultation”.
“The Diocese’s plan is we will revisit the whole Loud Fence in 2018 and the ribbons now on the fence won’t be removed by us until then,” Fr Driscoll said.
“This week before Christmas can be such a difficult time especially for survivors and I don’t want to aggravate that at any time but particularly now.”